The Journey of Her Soul (Soul Eater fanfic) {VERY SLOW UPDATES}

Chapter 6~

Recap:

"Hey, Zextra?" She turned and looked at Maka, just a bit nervous. "Why don't you come sit down? You can sit with us."

Zextra nodded, and followed them up the stairs to the mid-level seats.

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Maka and Soul sat down next to a teenage kid with pink hair wearing a long black robe with a high white collar.

"Zextra, this is our friend Crona. Crona, this is Zextra. According to Spirit, she's the daughter of his dead little brother."

"Oh. That's nice," Crona said in a high voice that was practically falsetto, especially when compared to Soul's much lower tones. "Now you have more family."

Maka shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. But I didn't even know I had an uncle, let alone a cousin."

"Same here." Zextra admitted. "All the family I knew was my mom."

"Well," Soul told them with an impish grin, "Now is as good a time as ever to change that."

The two girls looked at each other. They stood reading each other's expressions and souls. Of course, neither knew the other could soul-sense.

Finally, Zextra gave her cousin a one-sided smile, which caused Maka to return in kind a huge grin. Both girls said, "Alright."

"Aww, look at you two, being all sentimental!" A new voice whined, "It's making me sick!"

Zextra looked around, her searching gaze finally finding a black and white humanoid resting it's arms on Crona's head. It's eyes were large white bubbles, each marked with an 'X.' The rest of his black face was covered by a large white X, which crossed where a mouth should have been. What Zeztra found most strange, however, was that it's torso seemed to grow from Crona's back.

"Ragnarok, stop being so mean!" Crona told it.

"Uh, what the hell is that?" Zextra asked Maka quietly, hoping Crona and 'Ragnarok' wouldn't hear her.

"That's Ragnarok, Crona's Weapon. A witch cursed Crona to have black blood, which would be his weapon.

Zextra frowned, trying to understand these strange new terms and their meaning as she watched Ragnarok poking and pinching Crona's cheeks.

A strange noise suddenly came into their hearing, sounding vaguely like thunder rolling in the distance. Zextra looked towards the door in alarm as it grew gradually louder.

Maka put her hand on her cousin's shoulder, the smile still on her face. When Zextra glanced at Maka and her Weapon, Soul also cracked a toothy grin.

"Don't worry. It's just Stein making his infamous entrance."

Zextra's eyes widened. "That screw-headed man is our teacher?"

"Yes, he is," Soul chuckled. "Don't worry, he's not such a bad guy."

"He wanted to experiment on me!" Zextra told them in a whisper.

"He says that about everyone. He hasn't done anything to people in years, though." Maka replied calmly.

"He's been a bit more mellow since he and Miss Marie realized they loved each other, after Maka defeated the kishin Asuna." Crona said thoughtfully.

Zextra looked at each of them, then back toward the door as the noise became nearly unbearably loud. A figure on a rolling chair shot into view, sitting backwards and visible as little more than a blur of motion. Suddenly, the wheels of the chair caught on the threshold of the doorway, and the chair and man were flung to the floor.

Zextra couldn't help it; she burst out laughing. A high, squawking gasp echoed from within her, her eyes squeezed shut from the effort. Her eyes leaked tears from the pressure, and her stomach began to hurt. Everyone, including Maka, Soul, and Crona, stared at Zextra. If anyone had still been looking at their teacher, they would have seen Stein rise to his knees and start twisting his screw.

"So you can laugh." He announced suddenly. Zextra stopped laughing as best as she could, but stiffled a few more squeaky giggles behind her hand.

Stein looked at her amusedly. "Given your attitude only minutes ago when we first met, I'll admit your laughter was quite unexpected, Zextra."

"I think that's the first time I've actually laughed in years," Zextra told him truthfully, forgetting the dozens of eyes fixed on her and Stein.

"Oh, your laugh is so funny, Zextra!" Patty's voice said from the hallway, where she, her sister, and their Meister were just walking through the door.

"Ha! But it's not as great as mine! Ha! Hahaha-haha!" Black☆Star shouted as he and Tsubaki followed Kid into the classroom.

Kid ignored him and said to Stein, "Sorry we're late, but you know my father had to speak with us."

Zextra watched curiously as Stein simply nodded. They treated each other nearly as equals, not as teacher and student. As she looked between them, she got a hint of why.

Before she could figure out anything more, Stein stood and began to speak. Kid, Liz, and Patty took their seats next to Maka, Soul, and Crona. Liz gave Zextra a welcoming smile as she sat next to the nervous new girl. Tsubaki did her best to quiet Black☆Star, and usher him to their seats in front of the others.

"Zextra is a new student here," Stein was saying meanwhile, "As her enrollment was sudden and unexpected, she is currently without a Weapon partner. Please be respectful to her."

A hand was raised two rows below Zextra and her new friends, several seats to one side. Stein looked at the student and nodded for him to continue.

"If she's new and doesn't even have a partner, what is she doing in this class?" The boy sneered, "I thought only the best Meisters and their Weapons were assigned to this class."

Stein opened his mouth to answer, but stopped when Zextra stood from her seat. She glared at the boy, who turned to look at her.

"Why don't you fight me and find out, you cocky little bastard."

Maka yanked on Zextra's sleeve, trying to make her sit down. "Zextra, you can't just fight him! I know you're apparently a good fighter, but Meisters don't fight like the things you're used to!"

Zextra looked down at her seated cousin, smiling wryly. "Those creatures weren't the only ones that would start something with a lost, lone girl."

Maka dropped her hand.

"You want to fight me?" The boy teased, "And how are you going to do that without a Weapon?"

Stein spoke then, "Ox, I said to treat her with respect. Lord Death assigned her to the elite class for several reasons, none of which are your business.

"However, " and he looked toward Zextra, "If you both wish to fight, I will supervise."

Zextra pulled her dagger from her corset, her thumb on the bottom of the hilt. Ox's Weapon partner, a tan-skinned boy with tied-up black hair and visor-like glasses, put his hand on his meister's shoulder. The Weapon whispered something to his Meister, but Ox shook his head and stood, holding out his hand. He frowned, but light formed and he transformed into a spear-like staff in Ox's open hand.

Stein stepped back, giving the two students room. Technically he should make them fight outside, but that minor detail had slipped his mind.

Zextra descended to the floor, ignoring the built-in stairs, and instead stepping gracefully from one desk to the next. At the second-to-last level, she jumped slightly and rested her hands on the lowest desk, flipping her legs over her head. She spun to face Ox as he stopped at the bottom of the stairs he had used.

Ox sneered at Zextra, who ignored the look and slid into her habitual defensive crouch.